By Charlene Gatt
WESTERN Athletics can now claim to host some of the best athletes in Australia after bagging a handful of medals at the 2006 All Schools and Youth Championships last weekend.
The athletes competed under the Victorian banner as they represented their individual schools at the national championships at Sydney Athletics Centre.
The meet was off to a promising start when Jemma McDowell and Luke Hart set the fastest qualifying times for the under 18 100m hurdles and 110m hurdles respectively.
McDowell continued her reign over the track the next day when she brought home the team’s first gold medal in the 100m hurdle final in a time of 14.58 seconds, while Hart claimed third in his hurdles final.
Hart also scored a silver medal in the 400m hurdles, running a time of 53.0 seconds.
Team-mate Sharna Robinson can now boast about being the fastest under 14 400m athlete in Australia after her 58.23-second dash earned her first Nationals gold.
The medal capped off a triumphant weekend for the 14-year-old, who also snared silver in the triple jump with a distance of 11.74m.
Brodie McDowell bowed out in the first heat of the under 17 100m hurdles suffering from an injury, while sprinter Darren Hart shared similar disappointment in his 100m and 200m heats.
In the field events, Andrew Peska threw a whopping 54.54m to add a discus silver medal to his already extensive collection.
Peska also placed fourth in the under 18 men’s shot put with a throw of 17.19m, narrowly beating brother Andrew, who came in at fifth with 16.81m.
In the women’s under 17 triple jump, Laura Baker hopped, stepped and jumped 11.72m to place fourth, and also came seventh in long jump with 5.41m.
The athletes will not get another opportunity to gain medal glory until the Victorian Open and Under 20 Track and Field Relay Championships in February.
Shield competition resumes this evening (Tuesday) at the twilight meet at Meadowglen International Athletics Track.
